Kick Ass & Hit Girl: The Undead Files
by KrRcksMySx
Summary: In a world overrun by zombies, what are heroes made of, and where do they come from?
1. Chapter 1

Heavy, thick metal doors slowly shifted open, letting the convoy of vehicles drive into the basement of the skyscraper that housed the dwindling survivors of New York City.

Dave was only three years old when the first undead corpse was found in Miami, and only a year later it had spread across the country and into upstate New York, infesting Dave's hometown and dropping the living population by half.

For as long as Dave could remember he'd lived in a world of the undead, staying indoors, and fleeing from one safe haven to the next. Today however was the first time he'd ever been in New York City.

And as he had rode through the city of dreams in the van with his family and friends he couldn't help but look up in awe at the buildings that seemed to touch the sky. But he was quickly brought back to reality when the vacant and ghost-like streets caught his attention.

It was dark inside the basement of the new compound Dave would be calling home when he crawled out of the van, and after being out in the bright sun, Dave stumbled around unable to see clearly in the darkness. He heard what sounded to be the man in charge of this compound welcoming his group when his vision came back enough to make out the commanding black man standing before him.

"I'm Lieutenant Marcus Williams, I've been here for the past nine years and I've been in command at one compound or another in New York since the beginning. Before that I was on the NYPD force, so yes I know what I'm doing, and to keep everyone safe and secure here, everyone has to follow the rules," The man in charge boomed out addressing the newcomers.

"Number one is to not leave the compound. The only people who leave this compound are on our Defense Squad, and they go through extensive training…" Dave stopped paying attention.

It was the same rules as everywhere else. Don't leave the compound. Don't skip out on work. Don't do anything stupid.

Of course out of all the rules, the first was generally the most often broken. Dave and his friends had already made plans to sneak out and explore the city. It was, after all, once the most bustling and powerful city in the country, if not the world.

It was a typical past time of the younger generation, sneaking out and exploring the ruins of whatever city had once been home to the people confined in compounds, trying to evade the ever-growing zombie population. Most would just sit around and tell tales of zombie killing in a sort of grotesque campfire story rendition, but few had actually come face-to-face with one.

In fact, the only people who ever did were usually on the defense squad and trained for months before ever being let out of the compound to face any of the undead. Those brave men and women in Dave's old compound had to be over 18.

"Dude," Dave's friend Marty said softly, hitting him in the arm to get his attention. "We are so signing up for defense squad." He whispered.

"What are you talking about? We aren't old enough, Marty," Dave replied condescendingly.

"Dammit, Dave, pay attention," Marty whisper yelled at him. "The lieutenant just said they accept recruits at 16 here," He whispered excitedly and his other friend, Todd, grinned holding two thumbs up in the air enthusiastically as if to say, 'we're in!" Which if they were on the defense squad, they would definitely be a part of the 'in' crowd.

In an age where the only people you ever know and would ever meet pretty much stayed the same due to the quarantine and confinement the zombie plague had brought to the country, celebrity status came only from one thing. And that thing was killing zombies.

And the only way to kill zombies was to be on the defense squad. Which had always made age 18 the ultimate right of passage. But now that it was within reach, Dave could feel his blood pumping with excitement.

He'd never been a reject or the last one picked, but he definitely was far from being noticed. He was just sort of invisible. Especially when it came to the opposite sex. Although at times Dave was thankful that girls couldn't 'see' him since he often embarrassed himself every time he tried talking to one.

But if he were on the defense squad, that would change everything. Girls would notice him, probably even want him, and the guys wouldn't just think he was a geek that spent his time day dreaming anymore. They would probably be on the squad together, looking out for each other's backs and for the community. He'd be a hero.

He was thinking about his bright looking future while he made his way to what would be his new home with his father. He carried the bundles of supplies each new family was given, which typically were a first aid kit, rations, and other necessities, when time seemed to slow down. Down the hall, across from where Dave was walking, stood a stunning brunette talking to another girl.

Dave couldn't help but stare, this girl was beautiful. She was smiling and talking with the other girl, and Dave felt a heat rise to his face. Both of the girls started laughing and Dave swore that the brunette sounded as if she were tinkling like little bells. Dave was almost right next to the girl when she turned and looked right at him.

Dave realized that he was literally staring at the girl, eyes wide and mouth agape, so he tried saving face and awkwardly smiled and chuckled. The girl looked at him with cautious confusion and Dave snapped his head away, trying to keep from embarrassing himself further.

Dave walked the rest of the way with his head down, staring at the ground. The room Dave wound up with wasn't anything spectacular. It didn't even have a window. But it wasn't as cramped as their last one. There were two cots laid out with bedding and an extra change of sheets with a nightstand on one edge of the room and a small table and chairs on the other. There was also a small medicine cabinet on the wall, a chest of drawers, and a trashcan. It was plain and a hodgepodge of different furniture, but it was a home. It provided the necessities.

The compound was set up like many of the others had been. When people started fleeing and holing up in makeshift compounds towards the beginning of the zombie plague, people tried using old hospitals or hotels, but most of those places weren't secure enough to survive against the ever-growing zombie population. So they were either abandoned or became zombie breeding grounds.

Now that it's been over a decade since the initial invasion, the people that survived adapted and learned that security is key to survival. Thus most compounds now are modified military compounds or prisons. There had even been mental institutions turned into safe havens. This particular compound was the last standing in New York City.

It was once full of offices and businessmen, but it had a basement built to withstand nuclear fallout. It was constructed during the cold war, and rumors were that it was originally designed as a safe haven for the New York elite if things with Russia went south. It was never used for that purpose, but it's purpose of protection worked out well decades later against a different type of enemy.

Only a handful of the residents within really knew all the secrets that the building held, but most of the people didn't mind that. They were safe, and that's pretty much all a person could ask fore. Plus there had never been a zombie break-in, unlike the other compounds that had once dotted around the city, made from notoriously 'secure' buildings such as the Federal Reserve Bank, or the Empire State Building.

Dave had spent time in several compounds. After the initial outbreak, when Dave was just a small child, his family had decided to flee to the local sports arena, like many others in the community had. It had been set up to house people like refuges. But the expanse of glass windows, that had been so modern in design, did little to keep hungry, raving zombies from entering and having a feast.

Next, Dave and his parents fled to a hotel complex that had been set up as a makeshift compound, but it was also compromised and the Lizewski family had to flee once more. After several failed attempts at survival inside their home city, Dave's family decided to try living in the wilderness. They found a small band of survivors holed up in caves and that's where Dave met his life-long friends, Marty and Todd. Their families had gone through similar experiences and bonded. But once again the area had been invaded by zombies.

Marty, Todd, and Dave's families stuck together throughout many compounds to come, and until the last one, things had seemed fairly normal to Dave. The occurrence of zombies invading the compound was unfortunately common to Dave and his friends. Not that it made it any less frightening.

Dave's dad had told him that there had been movies about zombies back before the invasion, but that those zombies were like shuffling corpses rather than the diverse mixture of 'creepers' (as they were sometimes called) that were around today.

Some of them did shuffle along, but those were rare since zombies tended to retain parts of their physical and mental personality. Some would run after you, others would play strategies of trapping groups of people. Every zombie was different, which made surviving them more difficult.

Dave gritted his teeth, thinking back on the demise of his last home, and dropped the bundle of supplies on the table.

"Not too shabby, considering what I've heard about New York apartments, this is luxury sized," Dave's father joked, sitting down on the cot and bouncing up and down, as if testing it's softness.

Dave rolled his eyes at his father failing at trying to be funny. "I was going to meet up with Todd and Marty to sign up for defense squad, so I'll see you at dinner," Dave told his dad, turning to walk out the door and head towards the common area.

Dave's father jumped up off the bed and his demeanor changed. "No you're not. Defense squad is out of the question. I can't believe they even let you kids go out and do that here."

Dave turned back around to face his father and gave a pout before he even realized it. He quickly wiped his face of that emotion and tried to look as mature as possible.

"What do you mean, I can't be on the defense squad?"

"I mean, you're not going to be going out at sixteen and getting yourself killed, or worse, turned, just because you think being on the squad will make you mister popularity or something. I was a teenager once myself, you know, I remember all the stupid mistakes I made, and I'm not going to let you do one that could cost you your life, Dave." His father retorted, very serious, and in full-on father discipline mode.

"You can't be serious. I'm going to be the only guy not on the squad!" Dave whined, forgetting about the whole, act as mature as you possibly can, act.

"I'm sure there will be at least one other family that has enough sense to keep their son out of that death club, son," He replied, nonchalantly, meaning that this wasn't a negotiable subject.

Dave's face fell into a scowl and he gave up, knowing there was nothing he could do. "Fine. I'm still meeting up with Marty and Todd, though," He said darkly as he turned and stomped out of the room, leaving his father alone.

* * *

_So instead of writing the next chapter of Fledgling Chance, I've come up with this new story idea I had to write down. I tried looking to see if there were any fics in the KA universe with zombies and couldn't find any (found one w/ vampires, but no zombies but that's probably just due to a CGM influence. Oh and one Holiday Bonus of Makokam's I think had some sort of zombie theme going on, now that I think of it) which I found kind of surprising. I'd figured Mindy would be the ultimate zombie hunter, am I right?_

_I promise I'm working on FC, I haven't given up on it, I just felt like this would be something equally fun to write as well (here we go, trying out writing two fics at once...). _

_I guess I should tell you that I've never watched the Walking Dead, so there's not much of an influence there. In fact, I think the only zombie movies I've seen all the way through are Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. _

_So let me know what you guys think. Will this be an awesome idea or a horrible failure? Lol, hope to hear from all of you guys!_


	2. Chapter 2

As it turned out, Dave's father was right, there was a small group of guys whose parents wouldn't let them sign up for defense squad. But that didn't make Dave feel any better. In fact, it made him feel worse, because it meant he was going to be associated with those people.

Dave didn't want to say that they were weirdos or losers, since two of them were obviously not allowed to join due to physical handicaps, but the others had clearly been babied by their parents. Everyone in this group except for Dave had already been residing in the compound, meaning Dave was the only one from the incoming group not joining, making it even worse.

"I don't know why he's not going to let me do it. I mean, as soon as I turn eighteen, I'm signing up and there's nothing he can do about it, so why can't I just do it now?" Dave whined to Marty and Todd as they walked around, exploring the new compound.

"That's true, I don't know why all compounds don't start at sixteen. I mean, we are plenty old enough," Marty replied, letting his friend vent about his frustrations.

"Exactly. He should be proud that I want to do this," Dave muttered.

"Wait, were we supposed to turn the other way at that big statue?" Todd asked, not sure they were headed in the right direction. The group was headed to meet up with other teenagers in the compound after being invited by the young man that held the sign up sheet.

Dave felt like he shouldn't have come, but Todd and Marty assured him he'd be fine, and that they weren't going to go without him. The young man with the signup sheet had mentioned that people who weren't on the defense squad were invited, after overhearing their conversation so Dave was welcome.

It still didn't make him feel better.

"No, I think we're going the right way, he said to turn left," Marty replied.

"Where the hell are we going anyway?" Todd asked, not sure what he was getting into.

"I think we're sneaking out," Dave whispered, even though they were clearly the only people around.

"Obviously that's what we're doing. They invited all of us that came in on the caravan. Shit, it's probably initiation or some shit," Marty added, starting to feel uneasy.

"Great, that's why I was invited," Dave grumbled.

"Shut up, man," Todd whispered as they turned a corner and several other teens came into view.

This was by far the largest compound that Dave and his friends had ever lived in, both in stature and in the number of people that lived within. At one point in Dave's life the only teens he'd lived with were Todd and Marty, but in this compound there were plenty of them. But by plenty that meant about thirty.

There were about twenty of them clustered around in a circle like configuration when Dave and his friends walked up. Dave scanned the crowd and recognized the beautiful brunette he'd passed in the hall earlier. He watched her as he neared the group and took a seat on the floor, near some of the others.

She noticed his movement nearby and looked up at him. He quickly looked away, as if he'd been scanning the crowd rather than starting at her, but he missed the look of recognition on her face when she saw him.

"Okay, okay, everyone… new guys," The young man who had held the signup sheet earlier said, standing up and addressing the group, quieting them down. He scanned over everyone and nodded towards Dave and his friends when he said new guys. "Welcome to New York City. I'm Simon, and for those of you joining the defense squad, we're going to get to know each other really well," He said grinning.

Some of the others chuckled. "So, there's not too many of us, we can introduce ourselves to the group before we get the hell out of here and have some real fun," He said, raising an eyebrow mischievously and grinning.

That garnered some whooping and catcalls of excitement before he turned around and let some of the alumni group introduce themselves. Everyone went around the circle with introductions and then Simon spoke again.

"Okay before we leave there are some rules you guys have got to follow. Stay close to the group. Don't yell or make a ton of noise, that draws the creepers in. And for the love of god, don't do anything totally stupid. If anything happens to any of you guys… Well, let's just not let that happen, okay?" He said and the group started walking towards a door that lead to a dark unlit stairwell.

The group funneled in and started walking down the steps. Dave wanted to ask if this was the only way in and out of the compound but didn't want to draw attention to himself.

"Hey! You live in my hall," Dave heard softly coming behind him and turned to see the stunning brunette talking to him and smiling. "Dave, right?" She asked.

"Ugh, Yeah…" Dave stammered, trying to stay cool, despite his voice cracking.

"I'm Katie, but you probably already knew that from the intros earlier," She said the smile on her face, infusing into her voice.

"Oh, yeah," Dave responded, trying to recover from his dazed response.

"You're from the convoy that rolled in earlier, right?" Katie asked him, striking up conversation. Dave wasn't sure why she was being so nice to him, she seemed much too pretty to want to associate with him, plus the whole not being on the defense squad thing.

"Yeah, we got in this morning," Dave replied, noticing the Asian girl from earlier walking alongside Katie, Erika was her name, Dave remembered from the introductions just a few moments ago.

"So where are you guys from? I mean, where was your last compound?" Katie asked, looking genuinely interested.

"Oh, um, it was upstate. But we met up with another convoy from Albany." Dave motioned to Marty and Todd in front of him on the stairs as he continued. "The place we were staying in was compromised," Dave added trying to not sound too morose about it.

The line of people in front of the teens stalled and Dave looked over his friends, trying to see what they were stopped for. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his pulse quicken, thinking that they'd been caught trying to break out. But the group started moving again and Dave relaxed a bit.

Dave passed through a door and was lead down a long dark, dank hallway that seemed to be an abandoned utility tunnel of some sort. Katie didn't talk with Dave again and Dave was racking his brain trying to think of something clever or funny to say and not be creepy as they walked along but then the group came to a stand still again.

Slowly they crawled up single file on a small ladder through a manhole cover and Dave was met with the bright light of outside world. Dave crawled out and took a deep breath, expecting the smell of sunshine and the breeze that the outdoors generally brought, but instead a strange smell Dave hadn't really smelled before greeted him.

"Holy fucking balls, man," Marty said, as he tilted his head all the way back to look up at all the building around them.

"And we thought Rochester was big… Shit," Todd commented. Dave just looked up at the sky and noticed the bright blue of it and the wispy clouds that seemed to touch the tops of the buildings.

Todd, Marty, and most of the others that had snuck out of Dave's old compounds had always been in it to explore the territory and to try and see if they could find a straggling zombie to kill, but Dave did it just to get out of the compound. He liked the way the air was different and how it moved around instead of sitting stagnant. He also loved the trees and grass and dirt.

Those sort of things weren't inside, they weren't important, and to Dave who had spent his whole life cooped up inside one compound after another, he lived for moments like this.

It was probably one of the reasons he always signed up to do cultivation in a compound since it involved growing vegetables and dealing with plants and dirt, his parents had joked that living in those caves when Dave was little is what made him love the dirt so much. But growing the food and herbs inside wasn't the same. Inside the compounds it was always sterile and lacked the real sunlight the plants wanted.

Dave looked around though and noticed that there weren't any plants around, just concrete, metal, and glass. And while it was impressive it wasn't what Dave had been looking for. Still, just getting out was nice after spending two days holed up in a van.

"Hey guys, I've got something I want to show you," Simon said, motioning for the group to follow him. Dave noticed that Katie was now standing near Simon and seemed to know where they were heading. The thought that Katie might be dating Simon passed through Dave's head as he watched her talk with the leader. Dave felt jealous for a moment before a feeling of sheepishness washed over him.

As if he had a chance with Katie anyway, he wasn't even allowed on the defense squad. Dave was feeling rather sorry for himself when he stepped into what appeared to be the remains of some sort of shop front.

There were several shelves holding small bags of something and several different shaped and sized cups and mugs. There were several tables and chairs scattered around the room and a counter like area with several machines behind it.

He noticed that there were smears of blood on the carpet and on some of the tables and wondered if the area had been cleaned up of bodies since there certainly weren't any here now. He wondered if the zombies moved the bodies or if people had.

"This is it, our definitely unofficial, off the record, hangout," Simon said taking a seat in one of the plush chairs that were set in a circle.

"Where are we?" One of the new people asked, looking around.

"It's a coffee place. Evidentially that was really popular, just going and getting coffee and sitting around," One of the other veterans answered. Dave looked around and it made sense, the small bags were filled with coffee beans.

"According to the packaging this place was called Starbucks," Another chimed in.

"Weird name for coffee," Marty muttered as he took a seat in the circle of chairs that many were starting to settle into. Dave took one of the table chairs and pulled it behind his friends, taking a seat.

"So, initiation, right? Should we… do something?" Simon asked, looking form face to face of the group that had been living in the compound before. Dave instantly felt nervous and was dreading the worst.

"Oh, come on, what are they going to do anyway? Let's just swap stories," One answered.

"Yeah, we can't stay long anyway," Another added.

"Okay, okay," Simon responded chuckling and grinning. Dave scowled, realizing how perfect Simon's smile was. If Katie wasn't dating this guy, that meant that Erika chick had to be her girlfriend.

"So, any of the new guys got a story to share?" Simon asked, looking around. "And please, let's try not to be depressing," He added playfully.

Dave sighed and leaned back in his chair. The only story he had was depressing, and it was still fresh.

"I killed a creeper with a hacksaw and saved my little sis from getting bit. It was pretty badass," One piped up, rousing Dave from his thoughts. Others starting chiming in and swapping stories about kills and saves before Katie spoke.

"Tell everyone about that zom you got with the surgical saw last year, Simon," She said sweetly.

The veterans all agreed, urging him to tell his tale again. He acted as if he didn't want to tell it again, feigning false modestly, but Dave could tell he'd been waiting for the chance to tell it.

"Okay, well, it was my first week outside the compound with the squad, and we were supposed to be making a run to St Joe's for supplies," Simon started.

"That's one of the hospitals nearby," Someone interjected before Simon continued.

"Yeah, so I had a rifle with me and we hadn't seen any creepers yet," The group was silent, anticipating Simon's every word. Dave could tell Simon was eating it up. He'd probably told the story all the time, and couldn't wait to tell it again.

"We got inside and split up to go from room to room, looking for any medicine we could find…" Simon kept pausing for effect. "And I was with Dennis, here," He said, nudging the guy sitting next to him that had clarified what St. Joe's was. "And we'd found some spare bottles in a cabinet near one of those nurse's stations. We were heading down the hall to rendezvous with the others when we found a creeper tearing into one of our guys."

Simon continued, "I drew my gun to shoot at him, but Dennis, here, alerted me that there were other creepers coming in from behind us. I shot at the bastard munching on our man and tried to turn around to get the others but they swarmed us. I wound up shooting one in the stomach before another grabbed my gun from me. I had to duck into one of the rooms nearby and find shelter as I tried to find another weapon to use against them," Simon paused for effect again, and Dave rolled his eyes, trying not to sigh audibly.

"I wedged the door closed just as Dennis got in and the bastards were trying to break it down. And what's my luck but we'd walked into a surgery room. So Dennis started picking up the scissors and scalpels and whatnot, but I went for the heavy artillery. I found one of those circular saw things they use to cut open your head and the damn thing was still running! It must have run off batteries or something, and just as the bastards broke the door down we went after the little suckers. Dennis was tearing into the two on my left with his knives and I went to town on the guy in front of me, sliced his head clean open!"

The crowd started clapping and yelling praise as Simon finished up his story and went into detail how they met up with the others and to top it off had brought back a life-saving supply of medicine to the compound.

Some of the others chimed in afterward about how rewarding it was to be on the squad and how it's not just about killing zombies but about saving lives, and Dave slunk back in his chair, knowing he was the only one there that wasn't going to join the squad.

"We better head back, can't miss dinner, otherwise Gigante will find out we've been missing and tear into not just your ass, but mine too," Simon said, getting up to lead the group back into the compound.

Marty and Todd were totally pumped up about joining the squad and were going on and on about how much better life was going to be in this compound as compared to the others they'd lived in. Dave didn't say much, and had taken to listlessly kicking a pebble around with the toe of his shoe as he followed the group.

Dave, Marty and Todd were lagging in the back of the group, as they wound through the alleys, headed back towards the manhole cover. Dave suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and then he heard it: That gurgling noise, the noise of a creeper about to tear into a meal.

Dave turned around in the alleyway and saw the biggest zombie he'd ever seen in his life. It was a black guy that was at least 6'5" and had grossly toned arms. He looked like he had on some sort of gold chain around his neck with a large cross dangling at the end of it. His clothes were tattered and covered in dirt and dried blood, but Dave could tell they had once been the really nice and expensive kind.

But Dave wasn't thinking about clothes, he was screaming and trying to get out of the way of the behemoth's path. All of Dave's yelling had caught the attention of the others and soon the whole group was running into the street desperately trying to get away from the zombie.

Dave ran past Simon and turned his head as he was running to see if the creeper was still after him.

"Keep running! And don't head back to the compound, they'll just follow us in!" Simon yelled out, coaching Dave.

Dave responded by continuing to yell as the zombie got closer and closer.

"Come on guys! We've gotta distract him!" Simon barked out starting to yell and clap his hands desperately trying to distract the zom from Dave's tail.

It wasn't working. The giant was closing in on Dave and reached out to grab him. It had just gotten a hold of his shirt and was yanking him back towards itself when a loud bang erupted and dark blood sprayed all over Dave.

Dave fell down with the zom on top of him and tried to quickly push the dead body off of him.

"What the fuck was that?" Dennis asked out loud, coming to help Dave push the heavy body off of him so he could get up.

"Where did it come from? There wasn't supposed to be anyone on patrol today," Simon said, jumping in, since the man was so big and the two were struggling to get Dave out from underneath.

"Alright, Latrell Sprewell, I'm up to five of the New York Knicks now. Although I've always been more of a baseball fan. But I'll get me a Yankee some day," Came a small raspy voice, sounding pleased.

The group, which had finally gotten Dave free turned to see a small body gracefully flip off of a second story fire escape and land on its feet. The group discovered it was a girl as she looked up and showed her face. Her hair, which was pulled back in a ponytail, was a brilliant shade of purple and she was wearing what looked like purple leggings, a plaid skirt, a black turtleneck, and a bulletproof vest wish pockets holding various artillery. She also had a belt around her waist with two very menacing looking swords.

"Who are you?" Dave asked her, totally dumbfounded.

"You're Welcome," She said pointedly at Dave, her jaw going slack in annoyance and her voice lilting in sarcasm.

"How did you get out here? And where did you get those?" Simon asked her, walking up towards her.

The girl drew the swords from her belt and held them up in front of Simon, ready to fight him.

"I save you're sorry ass, and this is the thanks I get?" Simon looked apprehensive but he stepped closer to the strange girl. The girl in turn brandished the swords ready to strike. "Don't come any closer. Or you're going to wind up like Sprewell over there," She warned.

Simon held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I just want to know how you got out of the compound, we're going to have to take you back," He told her.

The girl smirked and flipped the swords around, placing them back in their holsters at her waist. "I'm not from your… 'Compound,' dipshit. I can take care of myself," She told him and snarled at him. "I guess if I'm not going to get a thank you, I'd better just leave you ungrateful little assholes," She said and turned around, jumping up the fire escape and flipping back onto it.

She slithered up the entire thing in no time at all and right before she disappeared from sight at the top Dave called out to her, catching her attention.

"Thank you!" He yelled out to her, genuinely grateful. The girl paused and looked at Dave for a moment before smirking and disappearing.

.

.

.

"You're going to have to wait here for some clean clothes and we're going to have to wash your face and hair before anyone sees you," Simon told Dave, pressing a hand against his chest, stopping him from getting out of the dark stairwell, after the group had successfully gotten back into the compound.

"I know his room, it's on my block. I can sneak in and get something," Katie said, almost popping up out of nowhere.

"Good, I'll get a bucket of water and some soap. Just stay here and don't let anyone find you," Simon said walking off with Katie.

Marty and Todd were the only ones left with Dave, as all the others had gone on into the compound to regain regular activities.

"I can't believe a little girl just took down that creeper, that's the biggest one I've ever seen," Todd said sounding dazed.

"I know, I thought you were a gonner for sure man," Marty added.

"Thanks," Dave replied ungratefully.

"No, I mean, what did that girl say, he was from the New York Knicks? He was a professional athlete; those are always the worst zom's. They're always too fast to outrun, and they work strategies," Marty defended.

"You're lucky to be alive," Todd noted. "I think you owe that chick your life, man."

Dave nodded absently in agreement, picturing the girl from earlier. He remembered her saying that she didn't live in the compound, and saying it as if living in the compound was a pathetic thing to do.

She just shot that creeper in the head like it was nothing and celebrated it like Simon had earlier in the coffee shop. But she had to be no older than thirteen. And wait, didn't she say that was her fifth New York Knick? So she had experience killing some of the most dangerous zombies in the world and treated it like it was an everyday occurrence. That girl had to be the most badass person Dave had ever heard of. And she'd saved his life.

* * *

_And Hit Girl makes an appearance! I hope you guys like the update, it's been some time lol. Please, pretty please, leave me a review letting me know your thoughts and whatnot :) I love hearing from you guys!_

_Thanks so much for reading!_

_*Chapter edited slightly for grammar (and a tiny change to Mindy's costume lol)*_


	3. Chapter 3

Dave walked in silence down the halls of the compound feeling sorry for himself. While his best friends were off learning how to slice open zombie heads like giant watermelons, Dave was going to be in a room by himself all day tending to vegetables.

Everyone in the compound has to do a job. Everyone. Even the kids. Once you're old enough to function with others they start making you do something. Which means that around six or seven years old you're going to start working. Of course they don't have six and seven year olds sharpening battle-axes, they make them do small things, like growing lima beans in cups by the windowsill. When the kids are that young they're still in school, learning basic skills such as reading, writing, math and the other basic necessities like zombie classification and first aid.

Most of the jobs the young children do for the community are for training them to adjust to living in the compound and how to function in that society. But once they get older, say thirteen or fourteen they only take classes on a voluntary basis in their free time. Those students generally are aiming for jobs in the compound that require more training such as becoming a teacher or even a medical physician.

But most kids at that age go off to do various jobs around the compound that need to be done, such as kitchen prep or compound sanitation. Dave chose to take cultivation.

It's an easy job, probably one of the easiest ones in the compound, which Dave always wondered why no one else wanted to do it. But that's the way it was: No one else wanted to do it. So it always left Dave alone for hours, tending to plants.

He didn't mind of course. Dave had no problem being on his own, as long as he was able to rejoin society at the end of the day. He'd plant, fertilize, trim, and water thousands of plants all by himself. He'd grown all kinds of things from autumn squashes to leafy cabbages. He even once was able to grow cactus plants, but that was more for his own pleasure than the functionality of the vegetable.

So when Dave arrived at the greenhouse and walked inside to find another teenage boy heaving a bucket of fertilizer around he was surprised. And when the door behind Dave clicked closed behind him, catching the attention of the other teen boy, it was clear he was just as surprised as Dave.

After an awkwardly long time of silent staring between the two, Dave finally found a smile and waved.

"Hi, I'm Dave. I'm… I figured I'd just keep doing cultivation like I did at my last compound and the one before…" Dave spoke starting to ramble on.

The other boy, who had dark hair and a button down shirt on, set down the large bucket of fertilizer and stood awkwardly listening to Dave ramble about the different plants he'd been able to grow in previous compounds.

Dave paused and realized he'd been rambling while still not knowing the other boy's name. "So… Are you…? I mean…" Dave was trying to find a way to ask what the other guy's name was without actually saying, 'are you going to tell me your name?' and sound like an asshole.

"I'm Chris. Chris D'Amico," The boy said grinning sideways.

"Cool. So, is there anyone else that works in here, or…?" Dave asked him.

"No, it's always just been me for the most part. I mean, when I was younger there was a guy here before me, he taught me stuff, but he left…" Chris answered. Both of the boys hadn't moved from their original spots, so both of them had to speak above a normal level to hear the other since they were several yards apart and in a large open room.

Dave finally made the move to step towards Chris, "Okay, so what all are you growing in here?" Dave asked.

"Well, these are string beans, I planted them a few weeks ago and they're just starting to sprout," Chris explained gesturing towards the patch in front of himself as Dave came to his side.

"Oh, string beans do best in summer, it may be a little too early for them. But since we're inside in a controlled environment it probably wont affect them too much," Dave mentioned, trying to stay pleasant and feeling like smacking himself in the head for immediately picking out what the guy was doing wrong.

"I've never grown them before, I figured they grew just like green beans," Chris replied before looking at Dave and smiling, "Thanks,"

Dave smiled too. "Yeah, I don't want to sound like a douche, sorry, it just popped in my head. Let me know if I start getting preachy," Dave said laughing, "I've never worked with anyone else before, so I'm used to doing it my way."

"No, it's fine. I haven't either; actually, nobody ever wants to do this job. Especially after you turn sixteen. They all sign up for defense squad," Chris said, sounding forlorn.

"Are you not on it then?" Dave asked him.

"Would I be here growing vegetables if I were?" Chris asked him grinning, but not in an overly crude and sarcastic way.

"True," Dave replied. "You're parents won't let you join either then?" He asked, walking around the place, checking out the different plants.

"No, they said it's too dangerous and that I'm better off here," Chris replied.

Dave laughed, "Sounds familiar. Wait, what's this one?" Dave asked, stumped at what the tiny buds were.

"Oh, that's going to be pumpkins. But they probably won't come in. I haven't ever grown those before, but some people requested them for pies around Christmas, so I figured I'd better start testing it out so I can get the hang of them by then," Chris told Dave, showing off how there were only a handful of plants in that variety.

"Oh, those are easy, I've done them before. The key is how you pollinate them. These all look female though," Dave said, bending down to get a better look. "But it's still too early to really tell, I think."

"Great! Then I won't have to sweat over these," Chris said laughing softly. "Is there anything you haven't grown?" He asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Well… I haven't done beets before, I had the canned kind a few weeks ago when my group was scavenging in an abandoned supermarket, and they were actually pretty good," Dave said, having to think about it for a minute before answering.

Chris laughed, "Not many people like beets, which is why I don't grow very many. I don't care for them myself, but I think it's Lieutenant Williams that particularly likes them so I grow them. They're over there, they're about ready to be harvested."

"Cool," Dave replied.

"Wait, you were scavenging for food? Only a few weeks ago?" Chris asked suddenly aware of Dave's previous comment.

"Yeah, I was a part of the caravan that came in a few days ago," Dave answered.

Chris looked confused, "I didn't know we were letting newcomers in… Hmm…"

"Yeah, the old compound I was in… It… We were infested and only a few of us got out. We were traveling a while before we found a caravan from Albany that was headed here, so we joined along," Dave explained.

"Oh. Infested? With creepers? That's really rare, isn't it?" Chris asked.

Dave had to pause and look Chris over for a moment after that response. He couldn't believe someone would actually think that zombies taking over a compound was a rare occurrence. Especially when he was living in the last standing compound in what was once the most highly populated city in the nation.

"Well, I've lived in a lot of them, and you don't leave just because you're not pleased with room service," Dave answered trying to keep the lighthearted vibe alive even though he wanted to tell Chris he was a dumbass.

Chris laughed and didn't take Dave too seriously as he walked on. "Well, we haven't had a single break in since I've lived here, and I was born here," Chris told Dave.

That made Dave feel a lot better, that meant that this compound had lasted longer than any other Dave had ever lived in. So it meant this must be the strongest in the nation, and Dave didn't have to worry about reliving the nightmare he had in his last one.

.

.

.

Dave enjoyed getting to know Chris over the next few days and had taught him a hell of a lot about gardening. He'd been taught a few things himself, but he'd done most of the teaching. He'd grown to really like Chris and didn't mind working alongside him.

Another thing Dave had noticed over the next few days and weeks was that Marty and Todd were now as annoying as fuck. All they ever wanted to talk about was defense squad training. Every night that Dave ate dinner with them they would go on and on about how awesome it was and talk in length about one technique or another that they had learned that day.

But for the most part Dave didn't have to sit and listen to them drone on and on mostly because they didn't sit with Dave at dinner very often. It must have been because they didn't have much to talk about WITH Dave, since Marty and Todd had taken to sitting at dinner with other members of the defense squad.

Dave would watch them from afar, laughing at something Simon or Dennis had said as Dave ate with his father and knew if he wanted to he could have sat with them. Marty and Todd had mentioned once that he was more than welcome to join them, but he just didn't feel comfortable around Simon and the others. He felt like somehow, they would all somehow telepathically snicker at him trying to be a part of their group if he did. So he didn't.

But he still wanted to. He just knew he didn't belong there. Not that he belonged with his dad either. He didn't talk much with the other men his father ate with. He'd mentioned being on cultivation duty and that usually kept people from having much to talk about with him. Which was probably another reason people didn't want to join cultivation.

But it was also what made Chris so easy to get along with. There was another person to talk about that sort of thing with. Someone that didn't mind when there were hour-long moments of silence between them, but at the same time could talk for hours with him about anything and everything.

They'd even talked about how the defense squad people would brag about their training even though it was just training and hadn't set foot outside to face a real zombie yet, just like Dave's friends. Dave liked Chris, and Chris seemed to like Dave just fine as well.

But cultivation was the only time that Dave saw Chris. He noticed on the first day he met Chris that he wasn't at dinner in the commons that night. And at first he thought it must have been a fluke, that he just wasn't hungry, or that maybe he'd gotten to eat early somehow. But after the third day he didn't show up Dave knew that couldn't still be the case.

Then he thought that Chris was somehow avoiding him at dinner, but when he would arrive at cultivation duty every morning Chris seemed happy, even chipper, to see him and would get along real well with Dave. So there was only one conclusion, that Chris was eating dinner somewhere else.

Dave wondered if perhaps there was another common dining area, but when he brought that up to the other adults at the table with his father they told him that there wasn't. Plus Dave had noticed Lieutenant Williams and other officers of even higher rank, including a man he'd found out was Chief Gigante, ate in the commons. So it wasn't as if the higher-ups ate somewhere else.

Dave wondered about it, but hadn't asked Chris about it. He'd come close a few times, but then chickened out, thinking it might be personal. Maybe Chris didn't eat dinner at all. He was small, and Dave remembered hearing years ago in a book he'd found about people with eating problems that starved themselves. Dave didn't really think that was the problem, but he still couldn't bring himself to ask.

So instead, Dave would sit eating his food in mostly silence (at least for him anyway, the commons was a large room, causing the multitude of people to practically yell at each other to be heard) beside his dad.

But Dave got to talk with Marty and Todd outside of dinner. Most compounds would allow workers one day of freedom, as long as their job wasn't essential to the survival of the compound. And on those days Marty and Todd would hang out with Dave.

It was during one of those meetings that Dave's hopes were restored, at least to the point that he wasn't completely hopeless about his future.

"Erika is one tough chick though, she scares me," Marty said chuckling. "She sure told Janice where to go."

"Yeah, I'd hate to cross her. Just imagine what she'd be like if some poor fool started dating Katie. I don't know which would be worse, Erika or Simon," Todd added.

"Why would someone start dating Katie if she's already with Simon?" Dave asked confused, still not knowing who the Janice was that was mentioned earlier, but just going with it.

"Oh, Katie and Simon aren't dating, Katie's single. That's why it would be so bad," Todd replied.

"Yeah, I'm betting Erika would make like hell for the poor sap that would date her, Simon might threaten you with a fist fight, but wouldn't do shit," Marty added.

"Wait, so Katie's single?" Dave asked for clarification.

"Yup, there's not a whole lot of dating going on around here. If it wasn't for Dennis and Dolce I'd have thought there was a rule against it or something," Todd told Dave.

"Ugh, don't remind me. It's just so… I've still got that image of the two of them all over each other seared in my memory," Marty said shuddering.

Todd laughed, "Yeah, it was more than I wanted to see of Dennis."

"However, on the plus side, I have now seen real live tits," Marty said grinning and high-fiving Todd.

Dave rolled his eyes, smiling, "You mean, your mom's aren't the only ones anymore?" He teased.

"She's got some nice ones too. But I bet Erika's are better," She looks like she'd be the perky type," Marty said, ignoring Dave and sounding wistful.

"Hey, I wouldn't go around bragging about that shit though," Dave warned. "All you did was catch a girl with her boyfriend, by the sounds of it. In other words, you're not much further ahead than seeing your mom's."

Todd guffawed and bent over, slapping his knee at Dave's comment and Marty grimaced and changed the subject. He started talking about defense squad things with Todd that Dave didn't understand, as they were inside jokes within the squad, and Dave sighed to himself.

He couldn't escape the reality that he was slowly drifting away from his long-time friends. Soon, he thought, they wouldn't have much in common at all. Especially once they actually got out of the compound and faced real zoms. They would totally assimilate into the defense squad and Dave would just be a guy working in cultivation.

Dave tried to imagine what his life would be like if he were on the squad with his friends. He figured Katie would notice him more than just the occasional smiles and simple greetings he got from her when he passed her in the hall, and they could become like whatever Dennis and Dulce were doing that exposed her tits for the world to see. Not that he'd really want Katie to be exposed for all to see.

But Dave knew that wasn't going to happen. Even if he joined the squad when he was eighteen, he'd always be that guy that was always a bit behind everyone else.

He wondered if he asked Marty and Todd to teach him what they were learning, if they would. But he didn't want to admit, even to his best friends, how outcast he felt. They wouldn't understand, Chris maybe, but not them. They were basking in the glow of their newfound popularity, and Dave had to just sit and watch from the sidelines.

It was when Dave was starting to really feel shitty about himself that he remembered that behemoth creeper that almost nabbed him two weeks ago. He was sitting and wishing he'd let the thing eat him, that way he wouldn't have to deal with his problems and humiliation, when he remembered that little girl that saved his life.

Dave knew she had to be the real deal, probably more real than Todd and Marty would ever be. She was only twelve, maybe thirteen or fourteen at the most and she had shown no fear, when even big, bad Simon had fear written all over his face while he was shouting and trying to catch that thing's attention. And she'd done something. She'd taken action. Simon had just stood there.

And Dave knew, in that moment that his destiny was changing. He hadn't discovered the whole picture yet, but he knew that instance was far from the last time he was going to see that little girl.

* * *

_It's so great when I get these wild hairs and spurts of productivity. Hee hee, I actually got this whole chapter wrote in one day too. Almost one sitting, at that. Of course I was planning on getting the next chapter or FC finished first, but hey, this one was what my brain wanted to work on today lol._

_So we have some angsty Dave, Chris is introduced to the story, and I've ended with a cheesy over dramatic, but still positive, ending paragraph. I blame having just seen the new X-Men movie right before writing out the final three paragraphs lol._

_Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy the update :) I want to hear from all of you so please leave a review, let me know your thoughts, suggestions, etc. Also, by the end of this story I may be an expert gardener lol. _

_Can't wait to hear from you all! Thanks so much for reading!_


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